Fifth-year guard Jacy Sheldon (4) sets up a play during a matchup between Ohio State and Michigan State in the Big Ten Tournament. Ohio State won 74-58.
Credit: Gabe Haferman | Lantern File Photo
Graduate guard Jacy Sheldon faced a tough decision.
An Elite Eight loss to No. 1-seeded Virginia Tech in the NCAA Tournament marked four years of collegiate basketball, making her eligible for the WNBA draft. Despite being out half the season due to a lingering foot injury, Sheldon was still projected to be a top-10 pick in the draft.
Her teammate, guard Taylor Mikesell, had already declared, leaving only Sheldon to make her final decision.
Sheldon put her professional dreams on hold, wanting to fulfill a bigger role as a leader of the Ohio State women’s basketball team.
Sheldon said with the return of the majority of players from last year’s squad along with a few additional transfers, this year’s team has a chance of winning a national championship.
Ultimately, this was the deciding factor in her return
“I’m glad I made the decision to stay,” Sheldon said. “We have a great team with a lot of new people and a lot of returners who can all compete.”
Sheldon is looking to bounce back after suffering a foot injury against Ohio University on Nov. 17 that kept her out for over half of the season..
She returned midseason against Maryland Feb. 5, scoring just 5 points on 2-of-8 shooting before missing five more games to fully recuperate.
Sheldon would come back a few months later for the Big Ten tournament in a limited capacity.
Despite a tight minutes restriction, she came up big against rival Michigan, hitting a 3-pointer with 1:20 left in the fourth quarter to help lead the Buckeyes to a 81-79 victory.
It was just one of Sheldon’s many daggers, in which the Dublin, Ohio, native proved once again the moment wasn’t too big for her. Though this instance was a bit sweeter.
Sheldon was sidelined for 23 games, the most of her Buckeye career. Despite being unable to impact the game on the court, she cheered on her teammates while giving them a sideline perspective of what she saw on the court.
Once Sheldon was cleared for a second time, she took off “scoring” and never looked back.
Sheldon averaged 13.2 points and reached double figures 10 times, including all four NCAA tournament games against James Madison, North Carolina, UConn and Virginia Tech.
Her highest-scoring performance of the NCAA tournament came against Virginia Tech, in which she scored 19 points on 7-14 shooting from the field.
Sheldon said while it was difficult being away from the court for so long, it wasn’t entirely bad as it helped her learn new things about herself.
“That is something I’ve never really been through before, so it was definitely a new experience for me,” Sheldon said. “I got to know my body a little better and I got to know my limits a little better as well.”
In her third season as a Buckeye, Sheldon averaged a career-high 19.7 points while playing 33.9 minutes per game to lead the team.
She’s looking to return to this full form, as the Buckeyes have high expectations heading into the 2023-24 season after starting last year with 19 straight wins — a program best.
Sheldon said she is excited to get back on the court with her teammates, who played a major role in her decision to return for an extra year.
This year’s team is an experienced one, featuring 10 returners and five new players including two freshmen and three transfers. One of those fresh faces includes graduate transfer and ACC Defensive Player of the Year, Celeste Taylor.
Taylor said even before transferring to Ohio State she saw Sheldon’s importance to the program. Fast forward eight months and a dozen practices later, Taylor said she has full trust in Sheldon’s ability to lead the team.
“She keeps everybody super positive, super motivated just by the way she plays,” Taylor said. “When you see her play, you want to play just as hard as she does, if not harder.”
Sheldon will likely have to play twice as hard with the Buckeyes missing a huge piece of last season’s squad in guard Mikesell who was drafted with the No. 13 overall pick in the 2023 WNBA Draft. Mikesell led the team in scoring and 3-pointers made with 114 total.
The team is expected to largely lean on Sheldon’s scoring ability with the hope that others will step up, including Big Ten Freshman Player of the Year, Cotie McMahon.
Sheldon averaged 111 3-point attempts per season in her first three years with the program.
However, a foot injury last season led to steep drop as she shot just 9-of-38 last season, resulting in a career low of 24 percent from behind the arc.
Sheldon said she’s excited to improve her shooting after a career low of 24 percent from 3-point range last season.
“I’m excited to just get my shot back and let it fly often,” Sheldon said. “With the loss of Taylor, we’re going to have to find other ways to score and other ways to get those threes up.”
Head coach Kevin McGuff said Sheldon is one of the “best” players he’s ever coached.
“She is as hard a worker as I’ve ever been around and when she’s on the court, she makes everybody around her better,” McGuff said. “She’s kind of the engine that makes our whole thing go.”
